Roberto Duran

Roberto Duran, fighting for the first time in 19 months, scored a dramatic second-round knockout Friday night over Colombian middleweight champion Manuel Esteban Zambrano. Duran, who was knocked out by Thomas Hearns in a World Boxing Council middleweight title bout in his last fight, sent Zambrano to his knees with a left hook to the ribs. Referee Carlos Berrocal counted out the Colombian at 2:57 of the round as Zambrano strove to regain his feet.

It wasn't just the words — "You're blowing it, son!" — that Sugar Ray Leonard heard as he peered into the wise, aged eyes of trainer Angelo Dundee more than 30 years ago. Leonard also caught the sincerity of the message, and with that the motivation necessary to score a remarkable 14th-round knockout of Thomas Hearns that enhanced his standing as an icon of boxing. Leonard, a Southland resident, is now beginning work on a film version of his recent autobiography. Dundee, who died Wednesday at 90, is best remembered for being the longtime trainer of Muhammad Ali and Leonard.

Pernell Whitaker became boxing's first undisputed lightweight champion since the 1970s reign of Roberto Duran, winning in stunning fashion Saturday night by knocking out Puerto Rican Juan Nazario with one second left in the first round. Before 5,500 in Caesars Tahoe's outdoor arena, who paid from $50 to $300 to watch three of boxing's most celebrated performers, Whitaker easily stole the show.

In years gone by, Roberto Duran fought with barely harnessed fury. More often than not, he beat opponents with a matchless force of will as much as by the impact of his punches. And a case can be made, too, for Sugar Ray Leonard as one of boxing's most courageous, indomitable figures. Examples: His dramatic, behind-on-points TKO of Tommy Hearns in 1981, and his battling out of trouble a half dozen times in his 1987 victory over Marvelous Marvin Hagler.

For those who didn't see it, the reaction was generally of disbelief. Roberto Duran? He quit? Are we talking about the same Roberto Duran? The famed Panamanian fighter, known around the world for his great fighting spirit, his savagery in the ring? Yes, the same. But from this night on, his reputation was changed. It was Sugar Ray Leonard-Duran II, before 30,000 at the Louisiana Superdome. Leonard was 27-0 before Duran outpointed him the previous June 20 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

Sherry Davis, the first woman public address announcer in major league baseball, will not be asked to return next season after seven years with the San Francisco Giants. Davis said she was told in November she might not be asked back, but hoped the team would change its mind. But with the move to a new stadium next season, the team wanted a change. "We know what Sherry can do," said Tom McDonald, senior vice president in the team's marketing department. "We listened to her for 81 games a year.

For those who didn't see it, the reaction was generally of disbelief. Roberto Duran? He quit? Are we talking about the same Roberto Duran? The famed Panamanian fighter, known around the world for his great fighting spirit, his savagery in the ring? Yes, the same. But from this night on, his reputation was changed. It was Sugar Ray Leonard-Duran II, before 30,000 at the Louisiana Superdome. Leonard was 27-0 before Duran outpointed him the previous June 20 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

P.J. Goossen of North Hollywood, former state champion and International Boxing Organization junior-middleweight champion, will fight legendary boxer Roberto Duran in a 10-round super-middleweight bout Nov. 15 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Goossen, 27, who suffered his first loss in July after 18 consecutive victories, has been guaranteed at least $10,000 for the fight, said Pat Goossen, his father and trainer.

Both men have battled and struggled and bled to get to the top of the boxing world. Each, in his own way, then dropped his gloves, yelled, "No mas," and tumbled to the bottom. Both have read their boxing obituaries so often they could repeat them from memory. But each is now rewriting his respective ending, adding new chapters to a book most considered closed. Sixteen years after he quit against Sugar Ray Leonard with the memorable "No mas" phrase, Roberto Duran, at 44, is still fighting.

They are swarming into this city to pay tribute to a legendary survivor, a man who has stayed fiercely true to himself while almost every one of his peers has fallen into retirement, irrelevance or both. What other 43-year-old, in a nontitle bout against an opponent who has never excited boxing purists, could generate the pay-per-view sales and get the MGM Grand to spring for a $1.2-million site fee? Only Roberto Duran.

The fervor remains, but, for Roberto Duran, the footwork and the firepower vanished long ago. The legend lives, but the man who created it stumbles now on backwater TV channels crashing backwater opponents to the canvas. The stomach is flatter than in his less recent, flabbier comebacks, but the resemblance to the legend is hazy and sporadic, at best.

Four-time world champion Roberto Duran stopped journeyman Ken Hulsey with a hard left to the ribs in the second round of a scheduled 10-round middleweight fight at Cleveland. Duran, 41, dropped Hulsey, 28, to one knee at 2:45 of the round. Referee Ron Tillman stopped the fight before Hulsey stood up. "I hit him real good in the round and wouldn't be surprised if I broke his ribs," said Duran (87-9), who got his 61st career victory by knockout. He weighed 165 1/2 pounds.